Shoe form and attachment



Jan. 1942. c. DOERING ET AL 2,270,937

SHOE FORM AND ATTACHMENT Filed Dec. 26, 1939 sa 36 3/ 35 so 32 24 uvvrvroRs. p *P i PI 6.10. CHARLES DOER/NG. v as BERT J.SKOGLUND. 39 37 34 ATTORNEY. I

Patented Jan. 27, 1942 SHOE FORM AND ATTACHMENT Charles Doering and Bert J. Skoglund, Chicago, 111.; said Skoglund assignor to said Doering Application December 26, 1939, Serial No. 310,931

4. Claims.

This invention relates to shoe forms and more particularly to attachments therefor, although certain features thereof may be employed with equal advantage for other purpose.

It contemplates more especially the provision of hand manipulating or supporting attachments for shoe forms of standard or suitable construction to maintain shoes in their original shape during their non-use.

Numerous types of shoe forms have heretofore been proposed and while these serve their intended purposes, yet they can be rendered more desirable by supplying suitable attachments therewith to afford the manipulation and support of shoes during their non-use for shining, lacing or minor repair purposes. The need arises for shining, lacing, and performing minor repairs on shoes during their non-use and when the wearer is not available to retain such on the feet where such functions are usually more readily performed. As a result, it has been found feasible to secure attachments to shoe forms of standard or suitable construction so that they can be manipulated and the shoes supported either in the hand of an attendant or attached to a bracket 4 for support while the intended operations are performed thereon.

One object of the present invention is to simplify the construction and improve the operation of devices of the character mentioned.

Another object is to provide improved attachments that are readily associable with shoe forms of standard or suitable construction to enable the manual manipulation or the ready support thereof.

Still another object is to provide readily attachable and detachable gripping members for shoe forms to more readily enable the shining, lacing and minor repairing of shoes during their noneuse by the wearer.

A further object is to provide an improved self-expanding vamp defining member for shoe forms of standard or suitable construction.

A still further object is to provide a selfadjusting shoe form having hand gripping attachments to afford the shining, lacing and other functions thereon during the non-use of shoes.

Still a further object is to provide a shoe form grasping attachment that is readily attachable and detachable to shoe forms and wall supporting brackets for the purposes set forth.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description of an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a side view in elevation of a device embodying features of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line II-II of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front view in elevation of the shoe form attachment shown in Figure l embodying features of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line IV--IV of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a side view in elevation of the shoe form gripping attachment shown in Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a bottom view of the shoe form gripping attachment shown in Figure 5.

Figure '7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line VII-VII of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a plan View of the vamp defining portion of a shoe form provided with a transversely expansible feature embodying features of the present invention.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary bottom view of a shoe form portion shown in Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a sectional view taken substantially along line XX of Figure 8.

The structure selected for illustration comprises any shoe form of standard or suitable construction to which hand grasping or wall supporting attachments are supplied to afford the improved use thereof. To this end, the usual form for illustrative purposes may comprise a vamp defining member ID stamped or otherwise shaped from sheet material to approximate the configuration of a toe cap, vamp and instep portions of a foot to which the shoe is designed to conform.

For the purposes of this description, the member I0 will be referred to as a vamp defining member to which longitudinally extending rods H and I2 are pivotally attached by means of curved engaging lips I3I4 stamped from the material of the vamp defining member l0. To this end, the rearwardly extending rod members H and I2 are bent from a single length of rod to define a forward transverse end l5 which cooperates with the curved engaging lips I3-l4 to define a pivotal connection therebetween.

As shown, the rods ll-2I extend rearwardly from the forward transverse edge l5 and then converge as at I6-ll constituting their closest approach wherefrom they diverge to present outwardly offset extremities l8 and I9. The outwardly oifset extremities l8--l9 register with a series of transversely aligned apertures 20 pivoted in a tubular shank 2| and a heel. defining member 22. Thus far, the structure is standard for shoe forms of known type that are adjustable to shoes of varying size so far as their length is concerned.

In order to render the vamp defining member if] expansible to shoes of different widths, it is slitted along a longitudinal median line to provide a substantially V-shaped notch 23 that renders the member ID transversely expansible and yieldable under the influence of suitable means such as a coil spring 24. The coil spring 24 has its extremities 25 and 26 suitably secured or anchored by welding or otherwise to the confronting under surfaces of the vamp defining member ID, thereby imparting a transverse urge to expand the vamp defining member H] to its broadest possible width to fit shoes within a varied range of width sizes.

When the vamp defining member 19 is inserted in a shoe within the limits of its range of sizes, the tendency is to contract the portions thereof to conform with the size of the shoe within which it is inserted. Thereupon, the transverse spring 24 will spread the vamp generally comprising a toe cap and instep so that the leather defining the shoe body will be drawn taut in order to maintain the shoe in its desired shape.

In order to render the shoe form adaptable to manipulating the shoe for shining, lacing or minor repair purposes, a hand grasping shank member 21 is detachably associated therewith as will-appear more fully hereinafter. To this end, the hand grasping shank member 21 is shaped to correspond with the grasp of the attendants hand and may take a variety of shapes depending upon the dictates of commercial practice.

As shown, the hand grasping shank 2'! preferablyterminates downwardly in spaced arms 28 and 29 that are longitudinally furcated as at 36 and 3!, respectively, to substantially correspond with the transverse spread of the rod members I |-l2, on one hand, and the heel defining shank 2|, on the other hand. The furcations 36 in the arm 28 is preferably provided with a rearwardly converging counter seats 32--33 to conform with the portions I6l1 of the rod members H-!2 and this affords ready registry with the furcation 36 which is transversely notched therebeyond to provide confronting grooves 34 and 35 (Figure 3) above the converging seats 3233. As a result, the rod members lI-l2 will become lodged in the horizontal confronting grooves 3435 against removal unless the rods l!-l2 are displaced toward each other for removal within the restrictions afforded by the counter seats 3233.

It should be observed that the furcation 3| in the rearward arm 29 of the gripping member 21 is provided with inwardly confronting vertical grooves 369'l which extend upwardly for the substantial portion of the furcation 3| for registry with transversely aligned apertures 38 and 39 provided in the furcated portion of the arm 29 to receive the outwardly offset extremities |8l9 of the shoe form rods Il-l2.

It will be observed, therefore, that the offset rod ends |8-I9 project beyond the apertures 20 of the shank 2| of the heel defining member 22 that rests within the confronting grooves 26-21 while the former are displaced together and, thereupon, displacement is effected to the end of the grooves 36-31 for reception within the aligned apertures 3839 to effect engagement therebetween. As a result, the arms 2B29 of the hand gripping member 21 are detachably connected with the shoe form rods l|--l2 and the heel shank 2| to enable the manual support of the shoe form Ill in conjunction with or separate from the shoe that is intended to be telescoped thereover. This will enable any shoe to be readily shined, laced or repaired during the non-use thereof.

In order to render both hands available to the attendant for these functions, the handlegrip member 21 may be provided with an angular slot 40 proximate to the upper extremity 4| thereof. The slot 411 communicates with the rearward edge 42 of the handle shank 21 for complemental association with a pin 43 carried by spaced plates 44 and 45. The plates 4445 comprise a part of a wall bracket support 46 to which they are bolted or otherwise secured as at 41.

It will be observed that the hand gripping shank 21 rests against the forward edge 48 of the supporting bracket 46 to retain such rigid in conjunction with the pin 43 that engages the upwardly inclined surface 49 of the slot 40 to effect the rigid inter-engagement and ready detachment. The supporting bracket 46 may be suitably anchored to a wall or other rigid member 50 by means of screw fasteners 5| projecting through apertures 52 in the upper and lower ends of the supporting bracket 46.

It will be apparent, therefore, that the shoe form l0 may be provided with a readily attachable and detachable hand gripping member 21 which, in turn, can be detachably secured to a rigid bracket support 46 for shining, lacing and minor shoe repair purposes during the non-use of the shoes by the wearer. Various changes may be made in the embodiment of the invention herein specifically described without departing from or sacrificing any of the features of the invention, and nothing herein shall be construed as limitations upon the invention, its concept, or structural embodiment as to the whole or any part thereof except as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An article of manufacture comprising a shoe form having toe and counter conforming members, yieldable connectors interposed between said toe and counter conforming members, and an integral upstanding manual grasping member having spaced arms detachably associated at spaced positions with said shoe form and said yieldable connectors for effective shoe holding and shaping purposes.

2. An article of manufacture comprising a shoe form having toe and counter conforming members, resilient connectors interposed between said toe and counter conforming members, an integral upstanding manual grasping member detachably associated at spaced positions with said shoe form and said resilient connectors for effective shoe holding and shaping purposes, wall bracket'means, and complemental means on said grasping member and wall bracket for detachable connection to effect the rigid support there- 3. An article of manufacture comprising a shoe form having toe and counter conforming members, yieldable wire connectors between said toe and counter conforming members and an integral upstanding manual grasping member provided with spaced furcated arms detachably associated with said shoe form and said yieldable wire connectors for effective shoe holding and shaping purposes.

4. An article of manufacture comprising a shoe form having toe and counterconforming members, spaced yieldable wire connectors between said toe and counter conforming members, an integral upstanding manual grasping member detachably associated at spaced positions with said shoe form and said wire connectors for effective shoe holding and shaping purposes, and a wall bracket having means complemental to said manual grasping member for slidable cooperation therebetween to effect instantaneous attachment and detachment.

- CHARLES DOERING.

BERT J. SKOGLUND. 

